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Tag Archives: Front 242

Fell down an EBM (Electronic Body Music) YouTube hole this afternoon and thought I would share.

This abrasive prototype industrial/electronic music evolved out of the various strains of post-punk and was pioneered and developed by people like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and Front 242 into a unique sub genre that contributed directly to both techno and industrial before being slavishly ripped off by people like James Murphy at the turn of the new millennium.

Somewhat regrettably these amazing analogue sounds are frequently punctuated with either whiny British mewling or military inflected Germanic accents. Nonetheless these are all an interesting listen:

Executive Slacks – The Bus

The guitar in this is surprisingly reminiscent of Adrian Belew’s work on Talking Heads ‘Remain in Light’.

Cabaret Voltaire – Seconds Too Late (7” Version)

Atmospheric slow burn of a tune.

Front 242 – Don’t Crash

Love the synth pads like they use at the 1:00 mark. Very evocative.

Section25 – Looking From a Hilltop

Seminal tune that has been sampled and re-worked innumerable times.

Cabaret Voltaire – Diskono

Always my favourite Cabs track.

The Weatherman – Poison

Great clipped kicks and phat synth bass.

Parade Ground – Strange World

Yes, this does sound incredibly reminiscent of the Human League, but somehow grew on me with more listens.

Front 242 – Controversy Between

Joy Division meets Gary Numan

Executive Slacks – Thirty Years

Love this one. Hard driving, futuristic punk.

Written and posted by Horatio Cornblower. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.

[BTW, as a small aside… FUCK YOU to all the people who succumbed to putting advertisements on their YouTube videos. Putting up other people’s material and then wrecking it with 15 seconds of inappropriate consumerism. Hope the 60 cents you earnt from Google in the process was worth it.]